Receiver function imaging of the onset of melting, implications for volcanism beneath the Afar Rift in contrast to hotspot environments

Heating, melting, and stretching destroy continents at volcanic rifts. Mantle plumes are often invoked to thermally weaken the continental lithosphere and accommodate rifting through the influx of magma. However the relative effects of mechanical stretching vs. melt infiltration and weakening are not well quantified during the evolution of rifting. S-to-p (Sp) imaging beneath the Afar Rift and hotspot regions such as Hawaii provides additional constraints. We use data from the Ethiopia/Kenya Broadband Seismic Experiment (EKBSE), the Ethiopia Afar Geophysical Lithospheric Experiment (EAGLE), a new UK/US led deployment of 46 stations in the Afar depression and surrounding area, and the PLUME experiment. We use two methodologies to investigate structure and locate robust features: 1) binning by conversion point and then simultaneous deconvolution in the frequency domain, and 2) extended multitaper followed by migration and stacking. We image a lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary at ~75 km beneath the flank of the Afar Rift vs. its complete absence beneath the rift, where the mantle lithosphere has been totally destroyed. Instead a strong velocity increase with depth at ~75 km depth matches geodynamic model predictions for a drop in melt percentage at the onset of decompression melting. The shallow depth of the onset of melting is consistent with a mantle potential temperature = 1350 - 1400°C, i.e., typical for adiabatic decompression melting. Therefore although a plume initially destroyed the mantle lithosphere, its influence directly beneath Afar today is minimal. Volcanism continues via adiabatic decompression melting assisted by strong melt buoyancy effects. This contrasts with a similar feature at much deeper depth, ~150 km, just west of Hawaii, where a deep thermal plume is hypothesized to impinge on the lithosphere. Improved high resolution imaging of rifting, ridges, and hotspots in a variety of stages and tectonic settings will increase constraints on the forces sustaining volcanism and the factors that dictate the style of breakup beneath rifts.